Psychology in Everyday Life (High School)

Fifth Edition

Publication Date: October 28, 2019

Hardcover ISBN: 9781319256852

Pages: 656

Psychological science: For every student, every day.

Psychology in Everyday Life (High School Edition) speaks to all students regardless of their background or level of preparedness. This, more than any other Myers/DeWall text, acknowledges the diversity of student readers. On these pages, you will find no assumptions about:

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Instructor Preface x
Student Preface: Student Success—How to Apply Psychology to Live Your Best Life xxvii

CHAPTER 1 Psychology’s Roots, Critical Thinking, and Self-Improvement Tools 1
Psychology Is a Science 2
Critical Thinking and the Scientific Attitude 2
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: The Scientific Attitude 4
Psychological Science’s Birth and Development 3
Today’s Psychology 6
The Need for Psychological Science 12
The Limits of Common Sense 12
Psychological Science in a Post-truth World 13
How Do Psychologists Ask and Answer Questions? 14
The scientific Method 14
Description 16
Correlation 18
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Correlation and Causation 19 Experimentation 20
Choosing a Research Design 22
Predicting Everyday Behavior 23
Psychology’s Research Ethics 24
Studying and Protecting Animals 24
Studying and Protecting Humans 24
Values in Psychology 25
Use Psychology to Improve Your Life and Become a Better Student 26

CHAPTER 2 The Biology of Behavior and Consciousness 31
The Power of Plasticity 32
Neural Communication 32
A Neuron’s Structure 32
How Neurons Communicate 33
How Neurotransmitters Influence Us 35
The Nervous System 36
The Peripheral Nervous System 36
The Central Nervous System 38
The Endocrine System 39
The Brain 40
Tools of Discovery—Having our Head Examined 40
Older Brain Structures 42
The Limbic System 43
The Cerebral Cortex 46
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Using Only 10 Percent of our Brain 49
Responses to Damage 50
The Divided Brain 50
Brain States and Consciousness 53
Selective Attention 54
Sleep and Dreams 56

CHAPTER 3 Developing Through the Life Span 69
Developmental Psychology’s Major Issues 70
Nature and Nurture 70
Continuity and Stages 70
Stability and Change 71
Prenatal Development and the Newborn 72
Conception 72
Prenatal Development 74
The Competent Newborn 75
Twin and Adoption Studies 76
Infancy and Childhood 77
Physical development 77
Cognitive development 79
Social Development 85
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Parenting styles—Too Hard, Too Soft, Too Uncaring, and Just Right? 89
Adolescence 90
Physical Development 90
Cognitive Development 91
Social Development 93
Emerging Adulthood 96
Adulthood 97
Physical development 97
Cognitive development 99
Social Development 100

CHAPTER 4 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality 107
Gender Development 108
How are Males and Females Alike? How Do They Differ? 108 THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Gender Bias in the Workplace 110 The Nature of Gender 111
The Nurture of Gender 113
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Sexual Aggression 115
Human Sexuality 117
The Physiology of Sex 117
The Psychology of Sex 119
Sexual Orientation 121
Cultural Attitudes and Prevalence 122
Why Do We Differ? 123
An Evolutionary Explanation of Human Sexuality 126
Male-Female Differences in Sexuality 126
Natural Selection and Mating Preferences 126
Critiquing the Evolutionary Perspective 127
Sex and Human Relationships 128
Reflections on the Nature and Nurture of Sex, Gender, and Sexuality 128

CHAPTER 5 Sensation and Perception 131
Basic Concepts of Sensation and Perception 132
From Outer Energy to Inner Brain Activity 132
Thresholds 133
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Subliminal Sensation and Subliminal Persuasion 134
Sensory Adaptation 135
Perceptual Set 136
Context, Motivation, and Emotion 137
Vision: Sensory and Perceptual Processing 138
Light Energy and Eye Structures 138
Information Processing in the Eye and Brain 140
Perceptual Organization 144
Perceptual Interpretation 149
The Other Senses 150
Hearing 150
Touch 153
Taste 156
Smell 157
Body Position and Movement 158
Sensory Interaction 159
ESP—Perception Without Sensation? 160

CHAPTER 6 Learning 165
How Do We Learn? 166
Classical Conditioning 167
Pavlov’s Experiments 167
Pavlov’s Legacy 170
Operant Conditioning 172
Skinner’s Experiments 172
Skinner’s Legacy 178
Contrasting Classical and Operant Conditioning 179
Biology, Cognition, and Learning 180
Biological Limits on Conditioning 180
Cognitive Influences on Conditioning 181
Learning by Observation 182
Mirrors and Imitation in the Brain 183
Observational Learning in Everyday Life 184
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: The Effects of Viewing Media Violence 186

CHAPTER 7 Memory 189
Studying Memory 190
An Information-Processing Model 190
Building Memories: Encoding 191
Our Two-Track Memory System 191
Automatic Processing and Implicit Memories 192
Effortful Processing and Explicit Memories 192
Memory Storage 195
Retaining Information in the Brain 195
Synaptic Changes 197
Retrieval: Getting Information Out 198
Measuring Retention 198
Retrieval Cues 200
Forgetting 202
Forgetting and the Two-Track Mind 202
Encoding Failure 203
Storage Decay 203
Retrieval Failure 204
Memory Construction Errors 205
Misinformation and Imagination Effects 206
Source Amnesia 207
Recognizing False Memories 207
Children’s Eyewitness Recall 208 THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Can Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse Be Repressed and Then Recovered? 209
Improving Memory 208

CHAPTER 8 Thinking, Language, and Intelligence 213
Thinking 214
Concepts 214
Solving Problems 214
Making Good (and Bad) Decisions and Judgments 215
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: The Fear Factor 217
Thinking Creatively 220
Do Other Species Share Our Cognitive Skills? 222
Language 223
Language acquisition and Development 223
The Brain and Language 226
Thinking Without Language 226
Do Other Species Have Language? 227
Intelligence 229
What is Intelligence? 229
Assessing Intelligence 232
The Nature and Nurture of Intelligence 235
Intelligence Across the Life Span 238
Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores 240

CHAPTER 9 Motivation and Emotion 247
Motivational Concepts 248
Drives and Incentives 248
Arousal Theory 248
A Hierarchy of Needs 249
Hunger 250
The Physiology of Hunger 250
The Psychology of Hunger 252
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: The Challenges of Obesity and Weight Control 254
The Need to Belong 255
The Benefits of Belonging 255
The Pain of Being Shut Out 256
Connecting and Social Networking 257
Achievement Motivation 259
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation 260
How Can We Motivate Personal Success? 261
Emotion: Arousal, Behavior, And Cognition 261
James-Lange theory: Arousal Comes Before Emotion 262 Cannon-Bard theory: Arousal and Emotion Happen at the Same Time 262
Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory: Arousal + Label = Emotion 263 Zajonc, Ledoux, and Lazarus: Emotion and the Two-Track Brain 263 Embodied Emotion 265
The Basic Emotions 265
Emotions and the Autonomic Nervous System 265
The Physiology of Emotions 266
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Lie Detection 267
Expressed and Experienced Emotion 268
Detecting Emotion in Others 268
Culture and Emotion 269
The Effects of Facial Expressions 271

CHAPTER 10 Stress, Health, and Human Flourishing 275
Stress: Some Basic Concepts 276
Stressors—Things that Push Our Buttons 277
Stress Reactions—From Alarm to Exhaustion 277
Stress Effects and Health 279
Stress and Cancer 280
Stress and Heart Disease 281
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Stress and Health 283
Coping With Stress 282
Personal Control, Health, and Well-Being 283
Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty? 285
Social Support 287
Finding Meaning 288
Managing Stress Effects 288
Aerobic Exercise 288
Relaxation and Meditation 289
Faith Communities and Health 291
Happiness 293
The Short Life of Emotional Ups and Downs 294
Can Money Buy Happiness? 294
Predictors of Happiness 296

CHAPTER 11 Social Psychology 301
What is Social Psychology’s Focus? 302
Social Thinking 302
The Fundamental Attribution Error 302
Attitudes and Actions 303
Persuasion 305
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: How to Be Persuasive 306
Social Influence 307
Conformity and Obedience 307
Group influence 311
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: The Internet as Social Amplifier 314 Social Relations 315
Prejudice 315
Aggression 320
Attraction 323
Altruism 328
From Conflict to Peace 330

CHAPTER 12 Personality 335
What Is Personality? 336
Psychodynamic Theories 336
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Perspective:
Exploring the Unconscious 336
The Neo-Freudian and Later Psychodynamic Theorists 339
Assessing Unconscious Processes 340
Evaluating Freud’s Psychoanalytic Perspective and Modern Views of the Unconscious 341
Humanistic Theories 343
Abraham Maslow’s Self-Actualizing Person 343
Carl Rogers’ Person-Centered Perspective 344
Assessing the Self 345
Evaluating Humanistic Theories 345
Trait Theories 345
Exploring Traits 346
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: The Stigma of Introversion 347 Assessing Traits 347
The Big Five Factors 348
Evaluating Trait Theories 349
Social-Cognitive Theories 351
Reciprocal Influences 351
Assessing Behavior in Situations 352
Evaluating Social-Cognitive Theories 352
Exploring the Self 353
The Benefits of Self-Esteem 354
Self-Serving Bias 355
Culture and the Self 356

CHAPTER 13 Psychological Disorders 361
What Is a Psychological Disorder? 362
Defining Psychological Disorders 362
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: ADHD—Normal High Energy or Disordered Behavior? 363
Understanding Psychological Disorders 364
Classifying Disorders—and Labeling People 365
Anxiety Disorders, OCD, and PTSD 366
Anxiety Disorders 367
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) 368
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) 368
Understanding Anxiety Disorders, OCD, and PTSD 369
Substance Use Disorders 371
Tolerance and Addiction 371
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Tolerance and Addiction 373
Types of Psychoactive Drugs 372
Understanding Substance Use Disorders 378
Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder 380
Major Depressive Disorder 381
Bipolar Disorder 382
Understanding Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder 382 Schizophrenia 386
Symptoms of Schizophrenia 387
Onset and Development of Schizophrenia 387
Understanding Schizophrenia 388
Other Disorders 390
Eating Disorders 390
Dissociative Disorders 392
Personality Disorders 393
Risk of Harm to Self and Others 395
Understanding Suicide 395
Nonsuicidal Self-Injury 395
Does Disorder Equal Danger? 396

CHAPTER 14 Therapy 401
Treating Psychological Disorders 402
The Psychological Therapies 402
Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Therapies 402
Humanistic Therapies 404
Behavior Therapies 405
Cognitive Therapies 408
Group and Family Therapies 411
Evaluating Psychotherapies 412
Is Psychotherapy Effective? 412
Which Psychotherapies Work Best? 413
How Do Psychotherapies Help People? 415
How Does Our Diversity Influence Psychotherapy? 415
Finding a Mental Health Professional 416
The Biomedical Therapies 416
Drug Therapies 417
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT: Therapeutic Lifestyle Change 418 Brain Stimulation 420
Psychosurgery 422
Preventing Psychological Disorders and Building Resilience 422
Preventive Mental Health 422
Building Resilience 424

APPENDIXES
A Statistical Reasoning in Everyday Life A-1
B Psychology at Work B-1
C Career Fields in Psychology C-1
D Complete Chapter Reviews D-1
E Answers to Retrieve & Remember and Chapter Test Questions E-1
F The Story of Psychology: A Timeline F-1
Glossary G-1
Glosario GE-1
References R-1
Name Index NI-1
Subject Index SI-1

Features that make this text a favorite for students: The Personal Approach

The Authors’ voices. Students connect with this book on a personal level and show it by sending the authors unsolicited fan mail.
Design and appeal. The look of this book is intentionally designed to look like a magazine or blog. The goal is to encourage students to read and connect with the content.
Relevance. Through personal stories, the authors invite students to apply the content and concepts to their own lives.
“In Your Everyday Life” and “Improve Your Everyday Life” questions appear throughout each chapter, helping students make meaningful and memorable connections to concepts while applying psychology to their own lives.
“Assess Your Strengths” personal self-assessments in LaunchPad allow students to actively apply key principles to their own experiences and develop their strengths.
Fun notes and quotes that apply psychology’s findings to sports, literature, world religions, music, business, and more.
An emphasis on critical thinking, including the “Statistical Reasoning in Everyday Life” appendix, helps students to become more informed consumers and decision-makers.

Features make this text a favorite for teachers: The Eight Guiding Principles

To teach critical thinking.
To provide applications of principles.
To reinforce learning at every step.
To show the process of inquiry.
To be as up-to-date as possible.
To put facts in the service of concepts.
To enhance comprehension by providing continuity.
To convey respect for human unity and diversity.

More than 900 new research citations. The authors’ ongoing scrutiny of dozens of scientific periodicals and science news sources, enhanced by commissioned reviews and countless emails from instructors and students, enables them to integrate the field’s most important, thought-provoking, and student-relevant new discoveries.

Think, Consider, Improve. This new theme highlights how students are encouraged throughout the text to:

Think critically, by examining sources and evidence;
Consider other voices and ideas, by being open to diverse perspectives; and
Improve their everyday life, by using evidence-based principles to boost their relationships, academic success, stress-management, and so much more. Students may start by taking advantage of the NEW Student Preface: “Student Success: How to Apply Psychology to Live Your Best Life”

Post-Truth World. Chapter 1 has a new section, “Psychological Science in a Post-Truth World,” which is accompanied by Dr. Myers’ new tutorial animation, “Thinking Critically in Our Post-Truth World” in LaunchPad, and also at tinyurl.com/PostTruthMyers.

Everyday Life Questions. The revised “In Your Everyday Life” questions now appear periodically in the margins (rather than at the end of the chapter). New “Improve Your Everyday Life” questions have also been added to the mix.

“Thinking Critically About . . .” infographics. All of these infographics have been revised and updated, with two entirely new pieces on “Sexual Aggression” (Chapter 4) and “How to Be Persuasive” (Chapter 11). They are also now accompanied by new corresponding activities in LaunchPad.

Concept Practice activities. LaunchPad offers 120 of these dynamic, new, interactive mini-tutorials that teach and reinforce the course’s foundational ideas. We’ve included callouts from the text pages to especially pertinent, helpful online resources.

Active Learning. Our Instructor’s Resources have long been considered the “gold standard” in the field, and they nicely support students’ active learning in class. There are additional NEW Classroom Exercises, Student Projects, Demonstrations, and Lecture/Discussion Topics that work well for think-pair-share, small group, and large group activities.

David G. Myers

David Myers received his B.A. in chemistry from Whitworth University, and his psychology Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He has spent his career at Hope College, Michigan, where he has taught dozens of introductory psychology sections. Hope College students have invited him to be their commencement speaker and voted him “outstanding professor.” His research and writings have been recognized by the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize, an Honored Scientist award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences, an Award for Distinguished Service on Behalf of Social-Personality Psychology, a Presidential Citation from APA Division 2, election as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, and three honorary doctorates.

With support from National Science Foundation grants, Myers’ scientific articles have appeared in three dozen scientific periodicals, including Science, American Scientist, Psychological Science, and American Psychologist. In addition to his scholarly and textbook writing, he digests psychological science for the general public. His writings have appeared in four dozen magazines, from Today’s Education to Scientific American. He also has authored six general audience books, including, in 2022, How Do We Know Ourselves? Curiosities and Marvels of the Human Mind. And he blogs about psychology and life at TalkPsych.com.

David Myers has chaired his city’s Human Relations Commission, helped found a thriving assistance center for low-income families, and spoken to hundreds of college, community, and professional groups worldwide. Drawing on his experience of hearing loss, which now includes a cochlear implant, he also has written articles and a book (A Quiet World) about hearing loss, and he is advocating a transformation in U.S. assistive listening technology (see HearingLoop.org). For his leadership, he has received awards from the American Academy of Audiology, the hearing industry, and the Hearing Loss Association of America.

David and Carol Myers met and married while undergraduates, and have raised sons Peter and Andrew, and a daughter, Laura. They have one grandchild, Allie.

C. Nathan DeWall

Nathan DeWall is professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky. He received his bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College, a master’s degree in social science from the University of Chicago, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in social psychology from Florida State University. DeWall received the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award, which recognizes excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching. The Association for Psychological Science identified DeWall as a “Rising Star” early in his career for “making significant contributions to the field of psychological science.” He has been included in the top 1 percent of all cited scientists in psychology and psychiatry on the Institute for Scientific Information list, according to the Web of Science. DeWall conducts research on close relationships, self-control, aggression, the psychology of religion, and intellectual humility. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation, he has published 225 scientific articles and chapters. DeWall’s research awards include the SAGE Young Scholars Award from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology, the Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Research on Aggression, and the Early Career Award from the International Society for Self and Identity. His research has been covered by numerous media and entertainment outlets, including Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, National Public Radio, The Guardian, the BBC, and Netflix. He has lectured nationally and internationally, including in Hong Kong, China, the Netherlands, England, Greece, Hungary, Sweden, Australia, and France.

Nathan is happily married to Alice DeWall and is the proud father of Beverly “Bevy” and Ellis. He also enjoys taking care of the family dog, “Artie.” As an ultramarathon runner, he completed numerous races, including the Badwater 135 in 2017 (dubbed “the World’s toughest foot race”). In his spare time now, he enjoys hiking, attending live concerts, setting up and maintaining aquariums, watching sports, and playing guitar and singing in local rock bands.